The concepts involved in the present invention relate to a new approach for management of subscribers"" mobile, digital devices, such as digital cellular telephones, through over-the-air downloads of data contained within such devices.
Mobile digital communication is becoming increasingly popular, particularly for voice-grade telephone services, and more recently for data communication services. As a result, there is an increasing demand for development of mobile, digital devices with ever more sophisticated features. As digital devices become more complex, managing subscribers"" mobile, digital devices is likewise becoming more complex, resulting in system administrator errors and inefficient use of digital communication network resources.
At present, manufacturers build wireless, mobile digital devices with a complete set of hardware and read-only software to support a full set of desired features. Some capability exists today to download service-related information over-the-air to existing digital cellular telephones (xe2x80x9cdigital telephonesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctelephonesxe2x80x9d). However, this capability has been limited to data needed to provision a new unit or to provision an existing unit for a new service. During initial provisioning, for example, the carrier loads into the memory of the telephone necessary parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone, i.e., something that affects how the digital telephone operates such as the mobile identification number (MIN) assigned to the unit. Essentially, these programming techniques turn on or off available features by setting bits to toggle features on/off or by loading necessary parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone. However, the desired feature functionality, other than the necessary parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone, such as the MIN, is present in the unit as manufactured and sold to the user.
Mobile device programming is typically a manual process. Some drawbacks to manual programming are the time and resources required, and the opportunity for error. Because of limited resources, this process is limited to minimal programming of required parameters. Additional parameters, such as Preferred Roaming Lists (PRLs), may be pre-programmed into the device by the manufacturer. Since many parameters are network specific, custom pre-programming requires a special arrangement between the carrier and manufacturer.
After the initial programming of a subscriber""s digital device, parameter updates may be required. If the customer requests a new Mobile Telephone Number or area codes are reassigned in a service area, the subscriber device must be reprogrammed. There are other occasions when parameter updates are desired to enhance digital device performance or network efficiency. An example is the Preferred Roaming List, which may change as the result of a merger between wireless service providers, or through the creation and termination of service contracts between wireless service providers, etc.
Because of the limited actions that can currently be taken, there should not be a lot of complexity in maintaining parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone in existing digital telephones. Actions are limited because updates to MINs are infrequently needed, and preferred roaming list updates are simply run as batch jobs to update as many digital cellular telephones as possible with an entirely new master PRL for the local in which subscribers reside. Toggling features on or off is only performed by a carrier in response to subscriber requests to do so, further limiting the actions a carrier needs to initiate.
However, as simple as current parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone maintenance appears, it is inefficient and provides multiple opportunities for operators to introduce error, particularly when applied to increasingly large numbers of mobile digital devices. As one example, consider the problems that arise primarily relating to PRL updates.
Preferred roaming lists are programmed into subscribers"" digital devices, either by the manufacturer or by the carrier. A PRL enables each digital device to select preferred wireless communication service providers to use when a subscriber is outside of the carrier""s wireless communication network. Preferred roaming lists essentially contain system identifications (SIDs) for each wireless communication service provider that the carrier has arrangements with to provide the lowest rates when the carrier""s subscribers are using their digital devices outside of the carrier""s network. Through mergers, the creation and termination of contracts, and other business procedures, a carrier""s relationships with other wireless communication service providers is going to change. As a result of changing business relationships, PRLs change. Optimally, a carrier is able to program the latest version of the PRL into new subscribers"" digital devices, and is able to update existing subscribers"" digital devices with the latest version of the PRL as well. This allows the carrier to be charged the lowest rates when its subscribers are roaming outside of the carrier""s network.
After a carrier updates its master preferred roaming list with new SIDs, the carrier would like its subscribers"" mobile, digital devices to contain the updated PRL. Currently, PRLs are updated by sending a copy of the entire master PRL to all subscribers"" digital telephones.
In a typical batch processing routine, an operator creates a list of digital telephones from a pool of digital telephones that do not contain the most recent PRL. The carrier""s equipment then attempts to contact the predefined list of digital devices each day, typically during an off-peak time period, i.e., very late at night or early in the morning when traffic volume is low. However, any listed digital devices that are off-line during the off-peak interval can""t receive the new list. Typically, they are skipped and put back into the pool of digital telephones that need to be updated.
This is an inefficient use of the carrier""s network resources because of the volume of information that is sent. It also takes up a lot of memory on each subscribers"" digital telephone, and may cause digital cellular telephones to be slow when searching for a preferred communications provider while the subscriber is roaming. There are also opportunities for operator errors because operators must identify the various types of digital cellular telephones that the carrier""s subscribers have, and send appropriate copies of the updated master PRL according to the make and model of digital cellular telephones used on the network. Not only is it possible for operators to misidentify which version of a master PRL should be sent to which digital telephones, but operators may simply forget to update any number of digital telephones.
Costs of development of new models of digital devices, with ever more sophisticated features, are high and continue to spiral upward. At the same time, driven by a long decline in consumer electronic prices, the price that the market will bear for such telephones has remained steady or even declined, in spite of the high demand. New digital devices with basic functionality encoded by the manufacturer and large amounts of available memory, so users may select various features and download software for those features to the unit, have been proposed. An example is commonly-assigned co-pending provisional application 60/185,131, entitled OVER-THE-AIR PROGRAMMING OF WIRELESS TERMINAL FEATURES, incorporated herein by reference.
Along with more complex digital devices comes more complex management of those devices by the carrier. Although subscribers will initiate provisioning of features, the carrier will now have to manage more complex parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone on subscribers"" digital telephones along with existing parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone, such as PRLs and MINs. This means that carriers will have more diverse parameter data relating to characteristics of digital devices to send to subscribers"" digital devices and differing needs for sending different parameter data relating to different characteristics of digital devices to individual digital devices. The carrier simply cannot afford to utilize the current, inefficient brute force method of making comprehensive, systematic downloads to maintain subscriber""s digital devices.
Mobile provisioning has also become more complex in recent years, as nation-wide service plans, short messaging and even Internet access become more common mobile service offerings. There are also a growing variety of mobile subscriber devices, from smart phones and wireless PDAs to low-end modules used for telemetry. Finally, increased competition is driving carriers to both reduce operating costs and improve customer satisfaction. All of these factors are creating a great opportunity for the automation of handset management processes.
There are existing standards defined for Over-The-Air Service Provisioning (OTASP) and Over-The-Air Parameter Administration (OTAPA). IS-725-A defines the message structures and commands for OTASP and OTAPA capabilities. IS-683 is the air interface standard for OTASP and OTAPA in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems. IS-683A Over-The-Air (OTA) operations occur between a mobile digital device and an Over-The-Air Function (OTAF) using IS-95A traffic channel data burst messages. This technology has been available for years, but the implementation to date has been limited.
These standards for OTA are centered on voice service programming and are not flexible enough to accommodate the full range of carrier needs. The standards do not address programming of parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone at this time. Each new feature or enhancement will require development for the network infrastructure, the mobile device, and OTAF. Use of the messaging channel as a transport does provide the ability to download parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone during a voice call. However, the simultaneous voice session may be desirable at times, but it is an added complication for carriers looking to fully automate the OTASP and OTAPA processes. Downloading parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone during a voice call limits when a carrier can download data and also limits data throughput during the OTA session. In order to support future applications, such as OTA Software Download (OTASD), more bandwidth is required. The long-term drawbacks of the IS-725-A and IS-683 standards have led CDMA service providers to seek alternative solutions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a carrier to be able to download parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone to a subscriber""s mobile, digital device when no voice call has been initiated by the subscriber, and to reduce the amount of parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone sent over-the-air to each subscriber""s digital device. There is also a need to ensure that individual digital devices receive parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone in a timely manner. Any download solutions for parameter data that relates to characteristics of a digital telephone should be readily scalable, to enable easy expansion to encompass future needs for software downloading.
The present invention alleviates the above noted problems relating to managing subscribers"" mobile, digital devices by downloading programming data to the devices intelligently, automatically, and on a device-by-device basis. The present invention further manages subscribers"" mobile digital devices by downloading programming data, which includes new data, software in the form of executable code, as well as updates to existing data, to each mobile digital device on an as needed basis. Downloads are made over-the-air with data that each mobile digital device needs in order to operate in the best and most efficient manner. Individualized downloads for each mobile digital device are accomplished by utilizing a wireless digital communications network having over-the-air data transmission capabilities and endowed with an expert system. The digital wireless communications network gathers and compiles information about subscribers"" mobile digital devices by collecting network administration data from within the network and from each mobile digital device. The expert system connected to the network analyzes the compiled complex network administration data and decides whether an individual mobile digital device requires a change to its data. The expert system retrieves only the necessary data needed to provision or update an individual mobile digital device. The expert system then triggers an OTA server to initiate a data communication session with the individual mobile digital device, and downloads only the necessary data onto the individual mobile digital device. Wireless digital communication networks with over-the-air capabilities and expert systems are described below.
More specifically, a wireless digital network compiles network administration data relating to mobile digital device administration directly from individual mobile digital devices and/or from various processing nodes within the network itself, e.g. from switches, location registers, a mobile telephone authorizing system, or a provisioning or billing system. Network administration data may contain information about a subscriber""s peak usage; where a subscriber roams and how often; SIDs on a digital device""s PRL; instances of the digital device dropping calls or other indicia of software problems with the device; etc. This complex network administration data is compiled, then configured for input into an expert system, and may be transmitted in its entirety or filtered to remove irrelevant information. The expert system then analyzes the complex network administration data by using programmed logic to apply a set of rules to the data. Consequently, a decision is made by the expert system whether a mobile digital device requires provisioning, parameter administration, repairs, etc. For example, provisioning, parameter administration, and/or repairs would be required if a subscriber""s mobile digital device was identified as having faulty software; or needed new SIDs for the subscriber""s PRL based upon that subscriber""s roaming usage of their mobile digital device and the current contracts that the carrier maintains with other wireless digital communication service providers. If the expert system decides that a particular mobile digital device requires provisioning, parameter administration, repairs, etc., then a programming action is triggered that will identify what data the mobile digital device needs, retrieve the specific data from the network, and initiate an over-the-air session to download the programming data onto the subscriber""s mobile digital device. The download to a subscriber""s mobile, digital device can also include data that is ready for downloading received by the expert system, e.g., software that the subscriber has requested.
A particularly beneficial aspect of the present invention is enabling a wireless digital communications network having over-the-air capabilities to intelligently manage subscribers"" mobile digital devices. The expert system actively searches for events contained in complex network administration data, and takes appropriate action on recognized events to automate and improve management of each subscriber""s particular mobile digital device. A recognized event may be a subscriber roaming into a new territory, an area code split, suboptimal call performances, a provisioning request, etc., i.e., an event defined for the expert system as an event that requires the expert system to make a decision and/or initiate a programming action regarding the event.
Use of an expert system to maintain subscribers"" mobile digital devices reduces operator errors through systematic application of rules to complex network administration data. An expert system is more efficient because provisioning, parameter administration, repairs, etc. are performed only when needed, only for mobile digital devices that need the provisioning, parameter administration, repairs, etc., and are reduced in the amount of data that needs to be downloaded onto each mobile digital device. Reducing the amount of data downloaded thereby frees network resources and uses less memory on mobile digital devices. An expert system is better able to keep pace with current changes by constantly searching for recognized events and by deciding what particular mobile digital devices require provisioning, parameter administration, repairs, etc., and when such event should be scheduled. Also, the inventive approach provides more individualized and complete maintenance of subscribers"" mobile, digital devices.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention.